Friday, August 24, 2012

Random Review (X-Men)

Spider-Man 2 a few days ago and now X-Men today.  The superhero movies are showing up here on the ol' blog.  X-Men was another show I watched growing up and another franchise my family poured a ton of money into action figures for.  I was always a big Cyclops fan, as well as Nightcrawler.  They were my favorites, for sure.  X-Men was released during the superhero boom in cinema during the 2000's and boy did they profit off it.  Come to think of it, with it being released in 2000, X-Men was probably the pioneering superhero movie for that decade.  It sparked everything.  To their credit, it's a very entertaining movie and I'm happy that I own it.

If this is your first Random Review and you're wondering what the fuck I'm doing, I just randomized my DVD collection and decided for shits and giggles, I would watch each one and review it.


File:XMen1poster.jpg
You know what I love most about these movies?  The intrigue and excitement of seeing characters you're used to seeing in a cartoon or comic book live on the big screen.  I'm always thrilled to see how the makers of the movie translate the villains and heroes into live action.  The makeup done by the creators is almost always flawless in this movie, especially the job done to Mystique.  She looks phenomenal, it's impossible to take your eyes off of her when she is on screen - it doesn't hurt that Rebecca Romijn is gorgeous.  I raved about the casting done by Sam Raimi and crew in Spider-Man and I'm going to do so again here with X-Men.  I wouldn't say I find Hugh Jackson to be the perfect Wolverine, but he does a great job nonetheless.  Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier and Ian McKellen as Magneto are dead-on perfect.  Their chemistry together as former friends turned bitter enemies is done flawlessly.  Huge credit to the actors and whomever casted these two.  Could not have found two better actors for the parts.  Another casting decision I adored was that of Anna Paquin as Rogue.  She is so damn cute in this film and Rogue is one of my favorite characters.  I also liked James Marsden as Cyclops and I'll be honest, Halle Berry looked damn good as Storm.

This was the first of the eventual trilogy, so this was the one where everyone was introduced.  You came to know all the main guys I mentioned above and the supporting villains/heroes also.  I really liked Toad, one of Magneto's henchmen, he was fun to watch.  This movie really focuses in on the relationship between Wolverine and those around him.  You see his compassionate side when it comes to Rogue, his lust for Jean Grey, his rivalry with Cyclops and rage when it comes to Magneto.  He's a truly dynamic character, probably the most well known and popular X-Men character of them all.  It makes sense that they would focus in on him.

Another main plot point throughout the movie is the general public's inability to accept the mutants.  It really makes you stop and think just how you would react should this sort of thing happen in real life.  I would find it pretty cool to see people with such amazing powers, but that uneasiness would be very prevalent.  It's movies like this one that make you realize just how boring real life can be.

I love when a DVD has a big documentary on the making of a film.  I usually enjoy them almost as much as the movie itself.  X-Men is another example of a movie with a delicious documentary explaining the thought process behind every moment.  It's done in an unique way as they insert moments of a fake debate among members of the senate discussing the mutants and what they should do.  It's an all-star cast, so I was a bit disappointed to see no commentary on my DVD, but I'll live.

My Rating - 6/10

If you're curious to know the reasoning behind my ratings, here they are:
9-10 - Amazing movies that I would consider my favorites of all-time
7-8 - Very good movies, certainly a good chance they're in my top 100
6 - Average movie, usually meaning I enjoy watching it, but not a favorite
5 - Okay, but not something I'd go out of my way to watch.
3-4 - Bad movie, I regret seeing it.
1-2 - Reserved for the worst movies I have ever seen.

No comments:

Post a Comment